Tigers captain calls for early offense in pivotal KBO postseason game

By Yoo Jee-ho

GWANGJU, Oct. 29 (Yonhap) -- With his Kia Tigers gearing up for a pivotal game in the ongoing Korea Baseball Organization (KBO) postseason series, captain Na Sung-bum said Thursday he hoped for some early offense against the Samsung Lions.

The teams split the first two games of this best-of-five battle at the Lions' home in the southeastern city of Daegu. The series has now moved to Gwangju-Kia Champions Field in the southwestern city of Gwangju, where the Tigers will try to win two straight games and close out the series.

"I think we did well to get a split on the road. Honestly, it would have been nice to win the second game as well and come home with a 2-0 lead," said Na, whose team took the opener 5-1 but dropped the next game 8-3. "Hitting comes and goes. Of course, we can't afford to be slumping at an important juncture such as this. I hope everyone goes on a good run here."

Na said he did not have to give any pep talk to his team after they arrived back in Gwangju, adding, "We all know the importance of these games."

As for the notion that the series could have some fireworks on the way with both teams sending their middle-of-the-rotation starters on the mound, Na said, "We will try to score some runs early and make life easy for our pitchers."

"It should not fall just on the guys hitting in the middle," added Na, who bats fifth in the lineup behind two other mashers, Kim Do-yeong and Harold Castro. "Everyone has to bear down and try to score as early and as often as we can. The Lions also have some great hitters, and I think grabbing the early momentum will be the key."

Na said speed atop the Tigers lineup could also make a difference. Leadoff man Park Jae-hyun swiped 21 bases and No. 2 hitter Kim Ho-ryung had 17 steals in the regular season.

"We have to get aggressive on the base paths," Na said. "Whenever we see even just a little opening from outfielders with weak throwing arms, we have to take advantage of that."

jeeho@yna.co.kr
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